


Summer in the City

by sangi



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-09-21
Updated: 2007-09-21
Packaged: 2018-03-13 16:18:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3388217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sangi/pseuds/sangi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first steps are the hardest. Zuko – moments from the time he’s scarred to the moment of his discovery of the Avatar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer in the City

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in 2007, posted here again for archival reasons.

1\. at last  
Summer in the city, I'm so lonely

  
Iroh sits solemnly by the bedside of a broken boy. The boy’s eyes are closed, though you can only see one because of a large bandage covering it, wrapping itself around his head in the process.   
  
The boy’s face is blank as the old man kindly speaks to him. “You know about his fits of anger, Zuko – he most likely didn’t mean it.” Iroh smiles softly down at his (seemingly) calm nephew, patting the prince’s trembling hand. “He’s always been that way,” he murmurs, to himself.  
  
“It will be okay,” he says.  
  
Zuko asks, in a weak voice, “Where’s Azula?”  
  


* * *

  
2\. bananas   
And I did feel like coming but I also felt like crying   
  
Azula leaves a chaste kiss on his cheek, smiling over at Iroh. The old man’s face is blank, a slate wiped clean of emotion, and she walks over to kiss him on the cheek also. The princess (now first in line, the cruel parts of his mind say) pats his cheek.  
  
She unceremoniously shoves a large basket into Zuko’s arms. The smirk on Azula’s face is just so – a mix of everything and nothing and exactly (perfectly) how it should be.  
  
“Fruit,” she says, still smirking.  
  
She leans in close to Zuko’s ear, feigning a goodbye, and whispers: “You’ll never come back.”  
  


* * *

  
3\. treasure chest   
It doesn't seem so worth it right now  
  
His fingers gently caress the carved wooden box, hesitating at points: the dragons spout of flame, the tower’s highest window, the woman’s delicate face (damsel in distress). When he’s gone over the ridges, he pulls away slowly, reaching for the lock; but his hesitation this time lasts more than a moment.   
  
In limbo: Zuko’s hand remains frozen, not touching the lock, but still holding the key. Brows furrowed, he turns his head away, hearing footsteps near the door. “Zuko,” his uncle’s questioning voice, “Are you in there?”  
  
His hand falls; the key is safely put away.  
  
Then, softly, “Coming, uncle.”  
  


* * *

  
4\. if I never knew you  
But there's no recognition in their eyes  
  
Silence hangs heavily on the room as the flames on the tips of the candles flare gently, moving as if there was a breeze blowing lightly through the room – but there is nothing but a meditating boy, a pensive, deep look on his face. In the background, somewhere on the other side of the large iron ship, instruments play in glee and joy.  
  
Zuko’s loose concentration is broken when an especially loud note is played, followed by crude laughter. He shakes his head (once, twice), and closes his eyes again, letting his mind focus on a single activity, and he begins.  
  


* * *

  
5\. locket  
And I tap on their shoulder and they turn around smiling  
  
Quietly, softly, in the solemn darkness of another star-filled night: “It’s okay to be homesick, Zuko.” The kind and comforting words come from the mouth of Iroh, who stands behind Zuko some odd paces, eyes sad and understanding.  
  
The old man is withering now, though his belly and his seemingly jolly spirit are intact, but there’s something that wasn’t there before: yet he smiles gently at his nephew.  
  
Zuko, in comparison, has his eyes closed. At the soft words from his uncle, he snorts and laughs (it’s bittersweet). “Home?” he asks the wind, and there is no answer, only silence.  
  


* * *

  
6\. mythological creatures  
And don't get me wrong, in general I'm doing quite fine  
  
Iroh: the Dragon of the West, the man who conquered a city (for however short a time it was) that was said to be unconquerable.  
  
Iroh’s always thought that this (cruel, unforgiving) side of him has lain in Zuko, who is bent on revenge (vengeance), for everything (the restoration of his honor). But his niece (the Lotus) is just as bad, he muses.  
  
He watches as Zuko patiently holds a seagull in his hands, stroking its beak, whispering small words to the bird.   
  
No, Iroh thinks, it is not Zuko who possesses the Dragon – it is Zuko who is the Lotus.  
  


* * *

  
7\. sunrise  
It's just when it's summer in the city, and you're so long gone  
  
The plate in front of him is empty. Zuko isn’t exactly surprised, just a bit curious. He looks to the horizon and sees the first rays of dawn gently reaching out into the sky. When the exiled prince sighs, it’s heavy and more than just a deep exhale of breath.  
  
“You’re up early this morning, nephew,” he can hear the smile the former general’s voice without turning around.  
  
It’s not unusual for his uncle to be up this early, he thinks belatedly. He smiles, though no one knows but him, and responds lightly to Iroh. “Firebenders rise with the sun.”  
  


* * *

  
8\. loyalty  
I start to miss you, sometimes  
  
Dearest Zuzu, the letter reads,  
  
I am deeply sorry to hear that you have not found the Avatar – here, he snorts – and that you cannot return home to us. There is no news of mother. Mai is fine. Ty Lee is fine. Father is a bit angry at you still.   
  
How is traveling? How is Iroh? – since when has she cared?  
  
I will patiently wait for you.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Azula.  
  
Zuko places the brief, terse letter in Iroh’s hands to read. “Well,” Iroh surmises when he finishes. “We never said she was good at everything.”  
  
The exiled prince puts the letter in his box.  
  


* * *

  
9\. endless summer  
It's summer in the city  
  
It’s still hot outside, though it is supposed to be far into the fall. He wipes the sweat off his brow slowly, letting the beating sun evaporate down some of it. His sparring partner smirks at the move; fire is bent and time is passed beneath the harsh, unyielding sun as the day goes on.  
  
In the end, Zuko wins. The other man pants as he folds his hands respectfully and bows. “You are better than I expected, Prince Zuko,” he explains with a crooked smile; Zuko’s is bittersweet.  
  
“Water?” Iroh offers, and he nods and takes a hearty drink.  
  


* * *

  
10\. beyond the horizon  
And you're so long gone from the city   
I start to miss you, sometimes  
  
His elegant (delicate, calloused, burnt) fingers are splayed out over the map, slowly plotting out their sea voyage. Iroh is in the corner, playing Pai Sho with a crewmember, his captain is maneuvering the ship, and he’s now eyeing the blue line of never ending ocean.  
  
In the distance: a flash of blue. Zuko’s eyes narrow and he shouts an order to the captain, having the man frantically turn the ship towards the South Pole – “I’m so close,” Zuko whispers to himself, but Iroh hears (shakes his head once, twice).   
  
The ship slowly heads towards the Avatar and inadvertently, his fate.


End file.
